Australian Idol is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the Idol franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program Pop Idol, which was created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller. Australian Idol was televised on Network Ten for its first seven series and was broadcast on the Southern Cross Austereo Radio Network between 2005 and 2007. The series returned in 2023 after Seven Network announced they would be picking up the show.
Kara Elizabeth DioGuardi is an American songwriter, record producer, music publisher, A&R executive, and singer. She writes music primarily in the pop rock genre. DioGuardi has worked with many popular artists; sales of albums on which her songs appear exceed 160 million worldwide. DioGuardi is a 2011 NAMM Music for Life Award winner, 2009 NMPA Songwriter Icon Award winner, 2007 BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year, and has received 20 BMI Awards for co-writing the most performed songs on the radio.
"Swamped" is a song by the Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. It was released as the second and final single from their third studio album Comalies. The song features a male and female vocal track, guitar-playing and orchestral string backing. The song is featured in the video game Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, and the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse as part of the soundtrack. "Swamped" is available as a downloadable song for Rock Band. A music video was produced for the song.
Katherine Jenna DeAraugo is an Australian singer-songwriter who in 2005 was the third winner of Australian Idol. After Idol, DeAraugo signed to Sony BMG and released her debut single, "Maybe Tonight", in November 2005. The single debuted at Number 1 on the ARIA Charts and was certified platinum. Her debut album, A Place I've Never Been, was released in December 2005 and was also certified platinum. DeAraugo later became a member of the multi-platinum-selling girl group Young Divas, which disbanded in 2008.
The third season of American Idol premiered on Monday, January 19, 2004, and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2% ; the vote total was the highest recorded vote total in the show's history until the May 23, 2007, finale of the sixth season. This season also featured future EGOT winner Jennifer Hudson, who finished seventh in the competition. This was the last season to be aired in standard definition, with the only exception being the grand finale.
Kerli Kõiv, better known mononymously as Kerli, is an Estonian singer and songwriter.
Eva Avila is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fourth season of the CTV reality show Canadian Idol in 2006.
Idol is a Swedish reality-competition talent show broadcast on TV4. It first appeared in August 2004, and became one of the most popular shows on Swedish television. Part of the Idols franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, which was first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom.
Eesti otsib superstaari(Estonia is Searching for a Superstar) is an Estonian reality-competition gameshow airing on TV3. It debuted on 11 March 2007 and it has since become one of the most popular shows in Estonia. Part of the Idol franchise, it originated from the reality program Pop Idol created by the British entertainment executive Simon Fuller, first aired in 2001 in the United Kingdom.
The seventh season of American Idol, the annual reality show and singing competition, began on January 15, 2008, and concluded on May 21, 2008. Ryan Seacrest continued to host the show with Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson returning as judges. David Cook was announced the winner of the competition on May 21, 2008, defeating runner-up David Archuleta by a margin of roughly 12 million votes out of over 97 million, which was at that time the highest recorded vote total in the show's history. The split was 56 to 44%.
Birgit Sarrap, also known as simply Birgit, is an Estonian singer. Õigemeel rose to prominence in 2007 after winning the first season of Eesti otsib superstaari, the Estonian version of Idol. Her debut self-titled studio album was later released in 2008. Õigemeel has gone on to release four other studio albums in her career.
Natalie Rose Gauci is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. Gauci undertook music tuition at the Victorian College of the Arts, formed her own band that played gigs in Melbourne, while also working as a music teacher. After an appearance on national radio station Triple J's talent contest, Unearthed, she successfully auditioned for the fifth series of Australian Idol in 2007 and went on to win the series.
Carly Sarah Smithson is an Irish soul and pop rock singer who was the sixth place finalist on the seventh season of American Idol. In 2001, Smithson released her first studio album for MCA Records called Ultimate High. Smithson was dropped from the record label in 2002. After being introduced to former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody in early 2009, plans for Smithson's post-Idol solo album were scrapped and instead she became the lead singer of the gothic metal band We Are the Fallen.
Arno Suislep is an Estonian musician.
Sandra Nurmsalu is an Estonian singer, songwriter, and violinist. Recognized within Estonia for her genre-bending style, Nurmsalu has garnered success as both the lead singer of Urban Symphony and as a solo artist.
The ninth season of American Idol premiered on Tuesday, January 12, 2010, and concluded on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, on Fox. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Kara DioGuardi returned to the judging panel. Ellen DeGeneres joined the panel as a replacement for Paula Abdul after guest judges filled in during the auditions. Idol Gives Back also returned for the season and was held on April 21, 2010, during the top seven results show. The top 24 semi-finals format used in the fourth through seventh seasons also returned this season. Cowell, DioGuardi and DeGeneres all left the show after this season ended, although only Cowell's departure was announced in advance. This was the second season where neither of the final 2 contestants had been in the bottom 2 or 3 prior to the finale, with the first being the seventh season. This was also the third consecutive season a male contestant had won, the longest streak for either gender. It was the first season since the sixth season where a female made it to the finale and was also the first time since the seventh season that both the finalists released a different song as a debut single.
Idol 2009 was the sixth season of the Swedish idol series and was broadcast by TV 4. The jury, identical to the previous year, consisted of Anders Bagge, Laila Bagge and Andreas Carlsson. Peter Jihde, the show's host, was also a continuation of the previous year's cast. The audition cities visited during the spring of 2009 were Gothenburg, Gävle, Malmö, Stockholm and Umeå, respectively. Around 11,000 people applied for Idol 2009, establishing a new Swedish record.
Jody Williams is a South African pop/R&B singer. She won the fourth season of the South African reality television singing competition Idols on 9 December 2007 at age 17, making her the youngest winner of the competition until 2017, when Paxton Fielies won the Competition at age 17.
The second season of Eesti otsib superstaari started on February 3, 2008 and lasted until June 2008. The hosts of first season were replaced by two male comedians/actors, Ott Sepp and Märt Avandi. Heidy Purga, Mihkel Raud and Rein Rannap continued as judges.
Kask is an Estonian surname meaning "birch". Notable people with the surname include:
